The Peninsula Shanghai

A gorgeous Art Deco-inspired hotel, classic elegance despite being the newest construction on the historic Bund. My suite was like something out of the Great Gatsby, but with the highest of high-tech touches like free international calling using a VOIP line, nail drying vents, one-touch "mood lighting" in each room... plus high tea in the lobby, delicious restaurants, great spa, bar on the roof with views across to the Pudong, worth the splurge (but even better if business is paying). Also lots of great activities for kids like kite-making and chocolate classes!

Why even leave the room (especially on record-hot days) when this is the view? The Peninsula Shanghai is a gorgeous Art Deco-inspired hotel, classic elegance despite being the newest construction on the historic Bund. My suite was like something out of the Great Gatsby, but with the highest of high-tech touches like free international calling using a VOIP line, nail drying vents, one-touch "mood lighting" in each room... plus high tea in the lobby, delicious restaurants, great spa, bar on the roof with views across the river of the Pudong skyline, worth the splurge for the location and million dollar views, and even lots of great activities for kids like kite-making and chocolate classes!

The Peninsula’s gracious tea service attracts local families in a festive mood, deal-making business people, and travelers eager to experience this midday ritual. The Lobby makes an impressive backdrop, with its palatial columns and the light notes played by string musicians. Three-tiered stands show off savories (egg salad, crab meat brioche) and sweets (raisin scones, citrus-honey madeleines) dreamt up by Executive Pastry Chef Lucien Gautier. But the true showstopper is the caviar menu, featuring “lake-to-table” Beluga sourced from China’s first caviar farm as well as Ocietra and Schrencki pearls with blinis or crème fraiche. And with a moment’s request, you can upgrade from a cup of tea to a glass of bubbly.

The Peninsula takes pampering its guests so seriously that in fall 2013 the hotel launched a private yacht service. The Princess 54 features a gorgeous teak transom, leather couches, and dual curved staircases up to the flybridge. Hotel chefs are equally adept at preparing a menu for a couple’s sunset cruise or a 10-person brunch outing. It’s a rarified way to soak up the futuristic skyline views along the Huangpu River while toasting your trip over Champagne and cocktails.

‘Airport transfer’ takes on fabulous new meaning when you’re gliding into Shanghai in a bespoke Rolls Royce Phantom from the Peninsula’s private fleet. And the four-wheeled fun is just revving up. You can set out for a three-hour shopping excursion in a green Mini Cooper S Clubman car, retrofitted with rooftop storage for your loot. Or hit the streets in a two-seater sports car, specifically, BMW’s snazzy low-emission i8 hybrid model. But perhaps the most stylish way to arrive at the museums, gardens, and restaurants of your choosing is in the fleet’s flawlessly restored 1934 Rolls-Royce Phantom II.

Don’t think a bathing suit belongs on your Shanghai packing list? Then surely you haven’t been acquainted with the Peninsula’s heated Olympic-sized pool—in a spectacular light-filled atrium with an art deco fireplace, palm fronds, lounge chairs, and an adjoining outdoor terrace. A swim is one of the myriad ways to recharge your body and mind within the 13,445-square-foot spa. You can enlist the help of personal trainers at the 24-hour fitness center and book treatments ranging from chakra balancing sessions to Ayurvedic massage and scrubs. The Peninsula also uses cutting-edge therapies like KORE, a program that combines Eastern and Western techniques to identify and relieve pain.